interludes
by onceuponaplot
Summary: [ongoing companion to library 'verse] [university au] the ongoing adventures of library guy and tiny lumberjack (AKA Clint Barton and Steve Rogers)
1. flames

Smoke drifts, grey and wispy in the chill night air. It ascends higher and higher until it is indistinguishable from the starry sky above.

The wood crackles and pops as it burns. A quiet murmur beneath the chatter of voices, bursts of laughter echoing in the clearing.

The warmth radiating from the fire reaches out to brush against Steve's face. Though his face is warm, Steve shivers as a wind kicks up behind him to ruffle his hair and tug at his scarf. He jumps a little when something heavy settles over his shoulders, warmth following soon after.

Steve turns his head slightly. It's just enough for him to watch as Clint finishes sitting on the log next to him. Clint glances over a few seconds later, the planes of his face painted in the ever-shifting light from the fire. He offers Steve a small, cautious smile, and Steve returns it. He shuffles a little closer on the log and Clint's arm tightens in response. Steve snakes his own arm around the other man's waist.

For a time, they sit quietly, watching the flames dance and jump without speaking. Occasionally, Steve's eyes flit around the bonfire to take in the rest of the crowd. Bucky is to their left, arms waving and eyes bright as he regales two of Clint's friends with a story. Steve's pretty sure it's the one about the time he was attacked by a goose in the third grade – Steve's heard him tell it enough times to recognize the ridiculous flapping he uses to imitate the bird. For all that Bucky can get enthusiastic when he tells about his 'near-death avian experience', Clint's friends don't seem to mind.

Steve recognizes them both: the brunette, Maria, was the one with Clint in the ER when Bucky all but asked Clint out for Steve; the redhead, Natasha, has joined Steve and Clint a few times at the library for quiet study sessions. Both women smile fondly as Bucky reaches the climax of the Goose Story, his own face stretched in a wide grin.

A little closer to the couple, Sam and Thor are bent close over the blonde's phone, a YouTube video playing on the screen. The two are having a quiet, good-natured argument, pointing fingers at the screen and exchanging hushed quips. Both have wicked smiles on their faces.

Steve's eyes drift some more to settle on the largest group directly across the bonfire. It's a boisterous conversation, and Steve's not surprised. From what he's seen of Clint's friend Tony, the man loves having a good time. There are six or seven others sprawled around him, all of them engaged in a loud, energetic discussion about the upcoming finals week. Tony throws back his head with a sharp bark of laughter at something Peggy said and the corner of Steve's mouth twists up in a smile.

Another breeze kicks up, but this time Steve isn't bothered. The heat between his body and Clint's is comfortable and Steve settles against the other man's side a little more fully, resting his head on the blonde's shoulder. He feels the weight of Clint's head come to rest on top of his own.

"I'm glad my friends haven't tried to kill yours yet," Steve says. He feels more than hears the low rumble of Clint's chuckle.

"I'm glad _my_ friends haven't scared yours off," Clint responds.

Steve watches them all a little longer. He can't help being pleased that everyone is getting along. It had been one of the reasons he'd delayed introducing more than one or two of his closer friends for so long, already several weeks into this… _thing_ he has with Clint. He's not sure if they're officially dating, but he hasn't been seeing anyone else for the past few weeks and they've talked about it enough for him to know that Clint hasn't either

Steve shifts a little so he can get a peek at Clint's face out of the corner of his eye. The blonde is smiling, as quietly content as Steve is, and the smaller man's heart skips a beat watching the shadows play across Clint's face.

It takes him a few minutes to notice Steve's attention, but he catches and hold's Steve's gaze once he does. He's not smiling, not exactly, but there's a softness to his features that Steve can recognize as fondness. For a minute, it's like they're the only people there.

Tony shatters the illusion with a well-timed whistle and a shouted "Barton, you're giving me cavities watching you make eyes at your boyfriend!" that starts a bout of friendly teasing from the entire crowd.

Clint waits until everyone has settled down before he makes his retort: "I'll make eyes at my boyfriend as long as I want, Stark." This in itself starts up another round of howling from their friends and Tony smirks, looking pleased with himself.

Steve definitely doesn't blush; his face was already red from the cold.

It's definitely not because Steve is Clint's _boyfriend_ when his friends talk about him. He's mentioned Steve being his boyfriend often enough that his friends refer to him as such without prompting.

Steve catches Clint's eye and laughs as Clint exaggerates the fluttering of his eyelashes and lets out a theatrical sigh. "You're a dork," Steve mutters. But he's grinning wide enough that his cheeks are starting to hurt, and the affection in his tone is unmistakable.

Clint leans in briefly, just enough to peck the tip of Steve's nose. "Yes, but I'm _your_ dork."

Steve can't find any fault with that.

"Yeah," he says. "You are."


	2. denial

Clint is minding his own business at the library. It's one of the few places his roommate won't interrupt him when he gets in a particularly chatty mood and Clint is in desperate need of some concentration today – the third floor silence rules are strictly enforced, and even Tony doesn't risk the wrath of the campus librarians. As such, Clint is only distracted by the occasional Facebook message from the engineering student. His responses are short – one word here and there to agree or disagree – but it doesn't discourage Tony.

Today, his impromptu lecture is on the importance of proper diode placement as he works on his electronics assignment. Clint only understands about a third of what Tony's rambling about, but he knows the other man works best when he has someone to talk and explain his reasoning to as he pieces components together. Clint's responses aren't really even necessary, so he can ignore the chat messages until he reaches breaks in his own work.

He's about to check Tony's latest messages when something red in his periphery vision catches his eye. Clint glances up and can't help the momentary warmth that spreads in his chest when he catches sight of a short blonde figure weaving through the shelves and desks scattered across the floor.

The other student is late today as he makes his way to the small desk by the windows, three rows away from Clint's own space. Normally he's all settled in by the time Clint gets to the library on Mondays, books spread out and fingers flying as he types in short, flurrying bursts of activity. Clint has no idea what he's studying or how old he is or even his _name_ , but he wants to.

Library Stranger is wearing a bright red flannel today and the dark jeans and combat boots that he's in just about every damn time Clint catches sight of him. His phone is tossed onto the window desk and he slumps into the seat like he's exhausted.

Clint fights the urge to go over and ask him if everything is okay.

He doesn't look away fast enough when Library Stranger glances around and makes eye contact. Clint holds it for a few seconds and feels a curl of something he'd rather not acknowledge just yet in his gut when Library Stranger's face lights up a bit. His fingers wiggle in a small wave and Clint waves back with a smile of his own.

' _Enjoy your studying today,_ ' Clint signs. ' _You just missed the potato chip guy getting yelled at for being too loud._ '

Potato Chip Guy has been scolded a grand total of seven times this semester for making too much noise with his choice of study snack on the silent floor. Clint has a feeling that today's reprimand will not be the last.

Library Stranger's shoulders shake in a silent laugh as he signs a thank you. His smile is a little wider and doesn't go away even when he turns away and starts unpacking his bag. Clint watches him for a few more seconds before returning to his own neglected work. On his computer screen, a message from Tony stops him in his tracks:

 **Tony Stark:** hey think u grabbed my phone when u were leaving earlier  
 **Tony Stark:** heading over to swap with u now be there in 10

The message is timestamped 9:17 and a glance to his clock reports that it is now 9:31. Clint glances behind him and stiffens when he catches sight of Tony standing a few feet away, wonders how much of that exchange he just saw. He's got a smirk on his face, looking like the cat that ate the canary, and he doesn't say a thing as he deposits Clint's phone next to the blonde's laptop. Clint is equally quiet as he rummages through his jacket pockets and produces Tony's phone.

Tony is uncharacteristically quiet as he leaves with nothing more than a nod and Clint is immediately on edge.

Sure enough, within thirty seconds a flurry of messages pop up on Clint's screen.

 **Tony Stark:** barton i cannot believe i am living w someone so intimidated by the thought of talking to a tiny library lumberjack  
 **Tony Stark:** u could benchpress him barton  
 **Tony Stark:** introduce urself  
 **Tony Stark:** ill do it for u if ur too scared  
 **Tony Stark:** hes cute i guess tho if ur into that  
 **Tony Stark:** which u are  
 **Tony Stark:** ;)

 **Clint Barton:** shut up Tony I don't even know his name  
 **Clint Barton:** besides he might not be interested  
 **Clint Barton:** I don't even know if he's single

 **Tony Stark:** he was def checking u out when u were looking for my phone  
 **Tony Stark:** just FYI  
 **Tony Stark:** and i /def/ got the 'is he a boyfriend' look  
 **Tony Stark:** i know that look trust me  
 **Tony Stark:** i winked at tiny lumberjack for u ur welcome

 **Clint Barton** : I know where you live Stark  
 **Clint Barton:** and he's not a lumberjack  
 **Clint Barton:** don't you have a project to be working on?

 **Tony Stark:** 'thank u for being an awesome wingman tony i appreciate it tony' **  
Tony Stark:** barton hes wearing flannel and hiking boots in the middle of the city  
 **Tony Stark:** still walking back to the lab duh

 **Clint Barton:** plenty of people wear flannel. YOU wear flannel

 **Tony Stark:** u just dont want to admit u like the itny lumberjack  
 **Tony Stark:** tiny*

Clint doesn't dignify the message with a response. He ends up regretting it when he gets a notification from their group chat a minute later.

 **iron man:** we need to have a discussion abt hawkdorks lumberjack kink

 **black widow:**? ? ?  
 **black widow:** what is tony talking about now

 **maria chill:** clint lumberjacks?

 **hawkeye:** pls ignore him

 **iron man:** the library guy

 **maria chill:** ah of course

 **the incredible bruce:** did Clint finally talk to him?

 **hawkeye:** stop encouraging him  
 **hawkeye:** :|

 **iron man:** no he didnt he has no game  
 **iron man:** clint pls i raised u to use better emojis than that

 **the incredible bruce:** Clint you already joke with him what's the worst that could happen  
 **the incredible bruce:** you obviously get along

 **hawkeye:** I'm so sorry my emoji use is disappointing you. Maybe it will improve if you STOP  
 **hawkeye:** Bruce why are you taking his side

 **black widow:** yeah clint at least use a sticker

 **maria chill:** just talk to tiny lumberjack

 **black widow:** ask tiny lumberjack out  
 **black widow:** clint x tiny lumberjack 5ever  
 **black widow:** clinterjack? lumberton?

 **maria chill:** lumbarton**

 **black widow:** LUMBARTON maria that's perfect

 **hawkeye:** jfc I'm going back to work

Clint closes the chat window with a huff and crosses his arms, done with the conversation for now. His phone buzzes when the next messages come in and he tosses it in his bag so he doesn't need to think about his friends' antics. _Lumbarton_. Jesus.

He runs his hands through his hair and over his face, doing a quick scan of the library and freezes when he catches sight of Tiny Lumber- of _Library Stranger_ watching him. The guy's expression is curious enough that Clint doesn't even have to be asked before he explains, ' _My friends are wonderful but awful people._ '

Library Stranger's mouth twitches he nods in understanding, eyebrow inching higher. ' _Good luck with that._ '

And Library Stranger goes back his work just like that. His fingers fly over his keyboard and his papers are sprawled everywhere and Clint feels a bit of his frustration slip away. He knows why his friends want him to make a move – he doesn't want to say he's pining but he probably is, just a bit – but he's content with how things are now. He likes the quiet camaraderie he's formed with Library Stranger over the past few weeks and he can't bring himself to chance losing that. Not yet.

Library Stranger sighs at something on his computer screen.

Maybe he'll say something after the long holiday weekend in two weeks. That'll give him some time to work up the courage, and he'll be fresh off of a few days helping to build a new exercise run for a local dog rescue. Clint always feels calmer after spending time with the animals there, his emotions more settled. That'll definitely help him take this massive leap of faith.

Two more weeks, and then Clint will know.

He can make it two weeks.


End file.
